Filmmaker’s latest effort nets top honours at festival

Jared Pelletier

In the Hearts of Men, the latest movie project from Aurora filmmaker Jared Pelletier, took home some serious hardware at an Arizona film festival last weekend.

The 15-minute Second World War piece from 20-year-old Mr. Pelletier won nearly all of the major categories at the Arizona Film and Media Expo (AZFAME).

By the end of Saturday’s screenings and award ceremony, In the Hearts of Men had won best picture and a best director nod for Mr. Pelletier. The film also netted honours in the editing category, for Mr. Pelletier and Keith LaPlume, and cinematography for Erik Tallek.

In fact, the only major awards it didn’t take were for best actor and actress.

“It’s significant because it’s pretty well-known in Los Angeles,” Mr. Pelletier said of his festival successes.

“All the films are sent to five of the big production houses in L.A.”

And while Mr. Pelletier isn’t certain as to which film companies will receive a copy of his latest movie, he’s grateful for the exposure.

The film is now eligible for consideration for next year’s Genie Awards.

“It’s really humbling to be recognized for your work,” he said, adding he is also pleased the efforts of Mr. Tallek and Mr. LaPlume have been rewarded as well.

Despite the accolades, Mr. Pelletier isn’t about to rest on his laurels and has already entered In the Hearts of Men in several other competitions, including the Toronto and Chicago international film festivals, slated for September and October, respectively.

He also plans to submit the film for next year’s Cannes and Sundance festivals.

In the meantime, however, Mr. Pelletier has lined up his next film project and is looking toward the stars.

That’s because he’s gearing up to make a fan film based on Halo, Microsoft’s hit videogame franchise.

To avoid copyright issues, this new project can’t be a profitable endeavour, Mr. Pelletier explained, but a number of other filmmakers have managed to garner serious attention in recent years with similar types of films, especially since the advent of YouTube. He’s hoping his film will get noticed as well.